In addition to military functions, which would have no legal basis without an extension to the United Nations mandate, the letter threatens to cease all economic aid and aid to the Iraqi educational system. The letter includes an exhaustive list of “tens” of services which would be severed on January 1.

The move is “shocking” according to Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, whose Iraqi Islamic Party severed ties with the United States yesterday over the killing of a senior party member in a raid. Hashemi said many in the Iraqi government view the letter as a form of political “blackmail.”